When Three Meet Again
by animegirl2691
Summary: Sasuke sends Naruto and Gaara a note telling saying he wants to meet them alone. is it a trap? And what happens when Kakashi find a lost friend? NOTE Don't read if you're a big fan of any of the following: Sakura, Lee,Gui, Karin, Itachi, Kisame,or Kakashi
1. The letters

**Konoha**

Naruto sat behind the desk and stared at the papers in his hands. A women walked into the room and set another pile of papers on his desk. He pretended to be concentrating on the papers but the truth was, he couldn't get his mind off Sasuke.

The day before, Naruto had received a letter from Sasuke. It had said that Sasuke wanted to meet him. He said to go alone, but could Naruto really trust Sasuke after everything that had happened? He was to go to the place where they had fought. Nostalgic. Naruto wanted to go more than anything, but…

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Naruto called. Neji walked into the room and shut the door behind him.

"You wanted to see me, Hokage?" Neji asked. Naruto laughed. "Is something funny?"

"It's funny to hear you say that after everything you said when we fought. You remember, about me not being able to become Hokage because it wasn't my destiny? Remember?" Neji nodded when Naruto had finished. "Any way," he continued, "yeah, I did ask to see you. I need your help with something. We have to wait though, until Shikamaru and Sakura get here." Neji nodded again. After a few minutes there was another knock on the door. Shikamaru and Sakura entered without waiting for an answer. Sakura rushed towards Naruto.

"You said it was life or death important! Are you alright, Naruto-kun?" she asked quickly, ignoring the others in the room.

Naruto smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Then what is this all about, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked with a sigh.

"I received a letter yesterday," he looked at Sakura as if trying to give her a message, then continued but kept his gave on Sakura, "from Sasuke."

The three were shocked.

"Sasuke?" Sakura whispered.

"Sent a letter?" Neji asked

"To Naruto?" Shikamaru asked. They heard a laugh and turned around. At the door, Kabuto stood laughing but he looked like he had just fought with some extremely strong opponent. He walked in, followed by Konkuro, Tamari, and Kazekage Gaara. Naruto stood up and when Gaara walked up to him, he hugged Gaara like a brother. Gaara was taken aback at first but then smiled.

"Long time no see, Naruto," he said companionably. Naruto's smile grew.

"Yup," he said, "I caught up with you, Gaara."

"Yeah." Tamari stepped forward and put a hand on Gaara's shoulder.

"You should tell him why we are here," she said.

"Oh yeah," Naruto stepped back behind his desk so that he could see the small group, "Why are you here? And why is Kabuto here?" Kabuto laughed again.

"Orochimaru is dead. I'm sure you all know that," they nodded, "I had nothing to do, so I paid a little visit to the sand village and what do you know, they arrest me and bring me all the way here."

"But that's not the only reason we are here," Konkuro said.

"Yes," Gaara walked to the front of the desk and looked straight into Naruto's intense blue eyes, "Just the other day, we received a letter. It said to meet at Tsunade's grave. The letter was from Sasuke."

"You to, huh? I think we should go together. The four of us." Naruto turned to the three he had called in, "Neji, Shikamaru, I want you two to come with us. No, I want you to follow us, as backup. Just in case there is an injury, I need you to come with us too Sakura. But Shikamaru, if Sakura tries to do anything that will mess this up, put her in your Shadow Posesion."

"Naruto, how could you! You know I won't do anything wrong!" Sakura screamed. She began to run at Naruto, her fists raised, but then she couldn't move. Her whole body was still and numb.

"That is what I mean. We aren't talking about a normal mission. We are talking about Sasuke. You trained under the last Hokage, Tsunade, and now I need her help but she is not here. So you have to come. If you think for one minute that I don't know your strength and self controll, your wrong. That is why Shikamaru is going to stop you. Because no matter how strong you are, you can't stop yourself when it comes to Sasuke. Am I clear?"

"Yes," Sakura siad weakly. Naruto turned to Konkuro and Tamari.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked. They nodded. Naruto turned to Gaara.

"Kazekage?" Gaara nodded.

"Yes," he said, "I just need one thing."

**Sound Village**

"Well, Sasuke, it looks like the Hokage and the Kazekage got your letters, but what are you planning? Are you going to kill them?" a young ninja girl asked. Sasuke laughed to himself.

"We'll see, Zakuro, we'll see."


	2. The meeting

Gaara walked through the forest to the meeting place, Tsunade's grave. He thought back to how she had died. In a battle with the Akatsuki, she had been killed while trying to heal one of the other ninjas. Naruto had become Hokage after that. Many said it was because he was the strongest, like a Hokage should be, but Gaara and Naruto knew that it was only because he had trained with Jaraiya.

Gaara was brought back to the "here and now" by Naruto putting a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll be here," he said. Gaara nodded and walked into the clearing. He put his hand to the strap that held his sand gourd. That is what he had gone to get before and now he was sure he would need it. There by Tsunade's grave, Gaara saw two people. One was Sasuke. There was no doubt about that. He hadn't changed much since Gaara had last seen him. But the other was a young girl. He didn't know who she was. She had long light brown hair held in a pony tail much like Ino's. She wore a sleeveless top that show most of her stomach and all of her arms and shorts that showed most of her legs. She had muscles but not exaggerated.

_She must be very strong._

The girl walked up to Gaara and looked him in the eye. Then she looked over at Sasuke. Sasuke nodded.

"You know Gaara, my friend here can read minds and speak to me through her mind. It's a special kekkei genkai. Please tell Naruto and the others to come out of hiding."

Gaara was shocked but looked over to the place where he knew Naruto was hiding. The all came out of their hiding places and joined Gaara. Naruto looked at Sasuke and smiled.

_He hasn't changed,_ he thought.

"Why did you ask to see us Sasuke?" Gaara asked calmly. Sasuke smiled.

"That's very simple. I want you to do something for me."

"What is it?"

"Well, as you might know, I have killed my brother, but because of that, the Akatsuki want me to help them. So all I need you to do is give me the Hokage."

Sasuke looked at Naruto. Then to Gaara. Then to the rest of the group. Sakura, Neji, Konkuro, Tamari, Shikamaru, Kabuto.

"Give us Kabuto and Sakura as well," said the girl who came with Sasuke.

The group was shocked, scared, angry, sad. Many emotions boiled inside each of them. Neji stepped forward.

"I can't let you take the Hokage." he said defiantly.

"Then you must fight me and win."

Neji was sure he could win but with help. But alone? he looked to Shikamaru who was holding Sakura in a shadow possession jutsu. Shikamaru nodded.

"I can hold two," he said. Neji looked over at Gaara, then to Naruto. They nodded.

"I will fight you," Gaara said, pointing to the girl.

"Are you sure?" Sasuke asked. Gaara nodded.

"Naruto, stay out of this. Brother, sister, you help me. Shikamaru, you need to help me too. Can you?" Shikamaru nodded. "Sakura, you stand by, just in case. Kabuto, help Neji."

Sasuke smiled.

_This is going to be fun,_ he and the girl thought.

**Fight one: Sasuke vs. Neji, Naruto, and Kabuto (and Shikamaru for a bit)**

Sasuke stood and waited for one of the others to make the first move. Neji drew back his hand. Then he pushed it forward and into Sasuke's left shoulder. Sasuke tried to dodge but realized he couldn't move. Neji's fingers pushed into his shoulder, making it hurt and feel numb. Shikamaru grunted.

"Neji! Warn me before you do that!! I get what he gets! Remember?" Neji nodded. Shikamaru couldn't use his left arm now, so the shadow possession jutsu was released. Sakura rushed to Shikamaru and healed his shoulder. Now he could use it again. But Sasuke couldn't use his anymore.

"No more chidori, Sasuke!" Neji said proudly.

"That's what you think."

Sasuke took his sword from his back. Naruto readied the rasengan. Neji began to build up chakra for another attack. Kabuto charged. He through a powder at Sasuke's eyes. It stung and for a minute, Sasuke couldn't see. Then it was over.

"What was that, Kabuto? Trying to blind me or something?"

"Or something." Kabuto smiled and nodded to Neji who was now ready for another attack. Neji hit Sasuke many times using his gentle fist technique. Sasuke tried to dodge them but wasn't fast enough.

_Why can't I predict his moves? What's wrong with my sharingan?_

"That powder has an effect on you Sharingan doesn't it? That's what I made it for. Not for you but for Itachi. Since Itachi's dead, I don't need to save it anymore."

Sasuke swore under his breath. As Neji raised his hand for another blow, Sasuke raised his sword. He cut Neji across the crest. Neji screamed as the pain from the cut mixed with the pain of Sasuke's chidori current. Sakura rushed to him and began to heal him.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled. Before Sasuke could turn around, he was hit in the right shoulder by the rasengan. Sasuke fell to the ground. Neither of his arms worked anymore. He had held back and for that, he had been beaten. He looked over at the other fight.

"I leave it to you, Zakuro."

**Fight two: Zakuro vs. Gaara, Tamari, Kankuro, Shikamaru, and a few surprise friends**

Meanwhile...

Zakuro looked at her opponents. Gaara had his sand around him in a ring, ready for anything. Tamari stood still with her arm held near her waist. This way, she could easily reach up and pull her fan out. Shikamaru was healed and made the hand signs for a shadow possession. He stood in the large shadow made by the forest that was circling the area. No matter where she was, Shikamaru would be able to trap that girl in his jutsu. Konkuro knelt behind the other three. His three scrolls lay out in front of him. He had been cocky in his battle with Sasori and didn't want to make that mistake again. He would stay back and watch what this girl could do first.

"So you think you can beat me?" she was being cocky. "Four, or more, against one. Hmm...what to do? Well, I think first I should introduce myself. That way, if any of you survive, and that's a big if, then you can tell everyone you meet who beat you! My name is Zakuro of the Sound. I was raised by Orochimaru and trained under both him and now Sasuke. I'm warning you! Fight me and your fighting for your life!"

"Nice little speech!" Zakuro turned to see that another person had joined the fight. "A bit cocky aren't we?" the young man asked.

"How? When? I saw Gaara's thoughts! You weren't there!"

"That's because Gaara didn't know," Shikamaru explained. "I asked them to come."

"Them?!"

"Yeah," another boy and a huge dog jumped down from one of the trees behind her, "Us!"

"Well, this doesn't change anything!" Zakuro said regaining her composure, "I will still defeat all of you!"

She made a few hand signs.

"Mind Scream Juts.."

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!" another voice came from behind the two boys and the dog. They moved to expose a blonde girl already slumped over. Then Zakuro's went haywire! Someone was trying to get in! Then something else happened! Her body went numb! She couldn't move and she couldn't see or hear or anything. She felt her body being wrapped in something. Something alive! Then her mind was clear again.

"I can't get in!" Ino yelled.

Zakuro looked down. She was covered in a mixture of bugs and sand and that pest had her in the shadow possession!

"I'm low on chakra guys so be ready!" Shikamaru yelled. a few minutes later, the jutsu was released. Zakuro tried to move her hands but couldn't through the bugs and sand that were holding her. Kiba and Akamaru stood ready for an attack. The sand and bugs went back to Gaara and Shino and Kiba and his dog attacked.

"Mind Wall"

The boy dog duo hit a wall of chakra. They couldn't break through from the outside. Zakuro, on the other hand, could easily throw things through from the inside. Akamaru was hit with three shuriken and a kunai hit Kiba's shoulder. He pulled it out and looked to Akamaru. He was bleeding badly.

"Sorry I couldn't be more help guys! But I gotta go get him some help!" Sakura attended to Kiba and Akamaru while the others waited for what Zakuro would do. Shikamaru had been watching while Kiba fought.

"Gaara," he called, "Send you sand into the spot where Zakuro throws the weapons! It opens for a few seconds to let the weapon out! Get you sand in while it's still opened!" Gaara nodded. Then he called for Shino to come over to where they were. He came, leaving a bug clone after him so no one could see he was gone. Gaara told him Shikamaru's plan. Shino nodded and went back. He covered the chakra wall with bugs. A bit was opened to let out more kunai.

"You know, I can see where you are with my mind so covering the wall won't hide you." Zakuro was so concentrated on fighting that she didn't think to read their thoughts and find out their plan. More kunai were thrown from the wall. They were easily dodged. In a split second, bugs swarmed into the opening left by the kunai.

The group heard a scream. Then everything went quiet. Sasuke had been beaten and taken to Konoha a while ago. They planned on taking this girl too.

About 30 minutes after the scream, the wall went down. There was nothing. Nothing but bugs! There was no girl! there wasn't even a sign that she had been inside! This was crazy. Something was wrong.

Kankuro placed his scrolls on nhis back and Temari replaced her fan. They hadn't been needed after all.

"It seemed unfair at first," Temari began. "Eight against one. But that girl held her own and got away."

"Don't worry, we'll get her." Kiba said.

"Let's go back to Konoha," Gaara turned and began to walk back as he said this. The rest of then followed the Kazekage. They would have some questions for Sasuke when they got back.


	3. The problem

Everyone had gone home except the sand siblings. When the group (Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, Akamaru, Shino, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari) had arrived at the village gate, it was dark. They had all gone home and agreed to meet at the Hokage's office to talk to Sasuke.

Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro now walked alone through the already deserted streets. Gaara stopped in front of a building.

"Gaara?" Temari started, "Are you alright? What is this place?"

"It's Naruto's home."

"Why are we stopping here?" Kankuro asked. Gaara laughed to himself.

"He could have a much better house but he chooses to stay here. The place where he grew up."

"Is this really where he grew up?" Temari saw how rundown the place looked. Gaara jumped to the window and went in. Temari and Kankuro followed. What they saw was shocking. The walls were covered with holes and dust from the walls was on the floor. There were also ugly messages written on paper and stuck to the wall with kunai. Kankuro pulled one off the wall, stashed the kunai, and read it. The note was full of profanity, swearing and telling Naruto how bad he was as, not just a Hokage, but a person. Other note said different things but they all said the same thing. The people that did this still hated Naruto.

Temari was in shock. When Gaara became Kazekage, not everyone liked him, but no one had ever gone this far and in fact, when Gaara was in trouble, the people supported him! How could anyone do this to their Hokage! She felt close to tears. Her heart was breaking for this boy who had risked his life for her brother. The boy who was responsible for making her brother what he was now. How could anyone be this cruel!

"Gaara, why are we here?" Kankuro asked.

"I was hoping he would be here. I never imagined to find something like this." The door opened and Naruto walked in.

"Oh, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro," he smiled, "What a nice surprise!"

"A nice surprise?" Kankuro almost yelled.

"Well, yes. I don't usually come home to find friends waiting for me!" his smile became bigger. Temari walked up to Naruto and hugged him. He was shocked and his face froze, but then he smiled.

"What do you have to say about thins?" Kankuro held up the note he had been reading. Naruto pushed Temari away.

"That," he said, "is a well kept secret until now." Kankuro froze. So did Temari. Gaara nodded.

"Let us help you clean it up," Gaara said. Naruto smiled.

"I couldn't let you do that! Your my friends!"

"Then I'll make you let us."

"Ok, ok, if you really want to."

Gaara and Naruto cleaned the floors, Temari took down the notes and stored the kunai in a safe place, and Kankuro and his puppets fixed the holes in the walls with some plaster that Naruto had brought.

"So, how did you know to bring the plaster, Naruto?" Kankuro asked.

"Let's just say, I knew I would need it."

"So, your saying this has happened before?" Gaara asked. Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Why didn't you say anything about it?" Temari asked.

"Guess I never really thought about it. I mean the people of this village have rights. Why should I stop something if it's not hurting anyone?"

"Your really stupid." Gaara said. Naruto froze. He slowly turned to face his friend. "You think it doesn't hurt anyone? What about you? How do _you _feel about it?"

Naruto looked at his feet.

"I guess, I'm used to it. I mean, things like this have been happening to me my whole life. Why should it be any different now?" he mumbled. Temari put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"You know," Kankuro began slowly, "this place isn't really suitable for living right now, so, come stay with us for a while."

Naruto smiled. "Ok, thanks!" he said. Temari hugged him again. They finished the room quickly then headed towards the rooms the sand siblings were using. Naruto was given one of the rooms in the spacious house. Gaara showed him around. When they were back at Naruto's room, Gaara helped him get settled.

"You know Naruto, if something's bothering you..."

"I know, Gaara, I know. 'You can tell me anything' I know."

"But you don't. This is the first time I've heard about what happened tonight. You should have told me!"

"I didn't want to worry you about nothing. And then there's the whole Sasuke thing. It would have been too much!"

"But it is too much for you to handle alone! I can tell."

Naruto nodded. He had become so close to Gaara it was almost scary. Gaara was like the brother Naruto never had. But sometimes, Gaara could also act like the parent Naruto never had.

"You should go to bed now," Naruto said to his red headed friend. Gaara nodded and smiled.

"Just be careful, Naruto. Don't go doing something stupid before telling me."

"Don't you mean 'don't do something stupid'?"

"No, because you always do, even if I tell you not to."

They shared a smile before Gaara left to seek his own bed. Naruto laid on the bed and looked at the ceiling for a long time before finally falling asleep. He had the strangest feeling that something was very wrong.

**5 a.m.**

Naruto had gotten up early. He had tried to sneak out before anyone else was awake, but when he opened his door, he found that all three of his hosts were awake and sitting around the table. Kankuro was eating an egg slowly while tinkering with one of his puppets. Gaara was drinking tea and reading something. Temari was walking in and out of the room with a tray of dishes.

"Good morning, Naruto. Here." She handed him a plate. On it was a piece of bread with butter and an egg. Naruto smiled.

"Thanks."

"You weren't trying to run away, were you?" Kankuro asked with a raise of his eyebrow as he looked up from his puppet. Naruto rubbed the back of his head with his free hand.

"HeeHee, you caught me."

"Come on, sit down. Eat." Temari commanded.

Naruto sat down by Gaara. Everyone was so happy. So comfortable. This was a real family. He smiled. All three members of this family were so kind to him. They made him feel like he was also part of this little family. He was so grateful for them. And he knew they were for him. They were always reminding him about how he did this or that for them. It wasn't like he did anything different for them then he did for anyone else, but they received it better.

"What are your plans for Sasuke?" Gaara asked, interrupting Naruto's musings.

"I think, after questioning, he will be taken back to his birth home. There he can restore his clan as was his original plan."

"But will he agree to that?" Kankuro asked.

"I really hope so. It will be hard if he tries to run or..."

"Or take you?" Gaara finished.

"Yeah. I know he is stronger then me. If he tries, will I be able to resist?"

"But you beat him didn't you?" Temari asked.

"He was holding back. He gave up in the end. I could tell."

"Hokage-sama? Are you here?"

They all looked towards the door to find Konahamaru at the front door.

"Oh, hey, I thought you'd be here!"

"Hey, Konahamaru!"

"Naruto, you have to come to the Hokage tower right away! Something happened and Shikamaru sent me to tell you that it's an emergency!"

Without another word, Naruto got up and rushed out the door. He ran to the tower as fast as he could. When he got there, the door to his office was closed. Naruto hesitated before opening it.

_What could be wrong?_

Gaara came up beside him and patted his back.

"Ready?" he asked.

"No," was Naruto simple answer. He slowly pushed open the door.

"Hokage-sama," Shikamaru said urgently.

"Nothing formal please. Now calm down and tell me what happened."

"It's Sasuke!"

"What about Sasuke?" Naruto's voice was calm but Gaara could see his friend tense at the name.

"Sasuke," Shikamaru said trying to calm down, "Sasuke is missing!"


	4. Fears and Tears

**Please Read**: I have been getting a few reviews about how the charecters are not acting like they would in the anime/manga so this is why. This fanfic is mine. The setting and charecter names are the same but if for some reason they act different then how they do in the anime/manga it is because they need to act they way for the purpose of this story.

* * *

Sakura walked slowly on her way to see Naruto. She walked slowly because she was thinkg about the past year. Almost a year ago was the last time she had seen Sasuke. 

_It's strange. I have come to love Naruto like I did Sasuke, but now that Sasuke is back, it feels strange. Almost like something is wrong. It's like the old me that loved Sasuke, had been hiding and now is trying to resurface. But the new me that loves Naruto is fighting for controll. Right now, I think the old me is winning. But how can I give up on my Naruto-kun? But how can I give up on my Sasuke-kun? I love them both. Neither of them love me. Maybe if I hadn't waited so long, Naruto-kun would still love me. But I had to wait for Sasuke._

Her thoughts went back and forth like this the whole way there.

oOo oOo oOo

"Gone?" Naruto asked a bit surprised. Shikamaru nodded.

"We searched everywhere and questioned everyone. No one saw anything! There wasn't even a clue left as to how he escaped."

Naruto sat at his desk and thought. He tried hard to think about what Shikamaru had said and to come up with a plan to find him, but his mind kept wondering to what Shikamaru had first said.

_Sasuke is missing. Sasuke is missing. Sasuke is missing. Sasuke is missing. Sasuke is missing._

"Naruto," Sakura walked into the office.

Naruto looked up to face her. She looked happy and smiled at him genuenly. But her smiled faded quickly.

_What is wrong with Naruto-kun?_

"Sakura, now's not the best time."

"No, Gaara, it's alright."

"But Naruto..."

"What do you need, Sakura?"

"Well, I was just wondering, would it be alright if I visited Sasuke? I mean I know you have to question him and stuff but could you just let me see him for a little while?"

"Actually, Sakura," he said soothingly, "Sasuke has escaped."

Sakura was in shock. She stepped back shaking her head. She backed into Kakashi who had just entered the room to give Naruto some papers to sign. Sakura turned and ran, tears spilling from her eyes. She wasn't sure why she was crying. Maybe it was the fact that Sasuke left her again, or maybe it was the way Naruto talked to her so kindly. It wasn't that he was mean or anything but it was like he knew how she would react and it hurt him to tell her.

oOo oOo oOo

_No, it's not me he was hurting by saying it. It was him. It hurt him to realize the fact that Sasuke has run away and there is still nothing that he could do! Oh, Naruto!_

Sakura stopped. Her blind run through the village had led her to the gate. She could see nothing but trees. Lots and lots of trees. She scanned through them for a minute. There was path infront of her. She looked back at the village.

_No one really needs me here. Naruto hates me! Sasuke left me!! I'm all alone!!! If I left they'd all be happy!!! Naruto would be happy!!!!_

Her thoughts became more frantic untill Sakura found herself sobbing and running through the forest away from the village and away from the path.

_I'll loose myself in these trees and die here where no one will know or care!_

She ran for two hours. Her legs began to shake beneath her untill she couldn't stand anymore much less run. Sakura collapsed on the ground near a large tree. She sat there with her head in her hand. Tears ran down her arms and dripped onto the ground beneath her. The wind blew the leaves above her. She looked up briefly. Shadows played across her legs.

A shadow flew across the others. Sakura started for a moment, then shrugged it off.

"Probly a bird," she told herself.

Another shadow crossed but she didn't see it.

Another tear fell to the ground. There was a rustle of leaves above her. Sakura looked up and saw the form of a girl, then everything was black.

oOo oOo oOo

Rock Lee ran through the forest as fast as his legs would take him, which was very fast. He had been training out here for a week now. Lee was determinded to become stronger and acheive his goal.

Six months ago, Gui, Lee, Naruto, and Neji had been on a mission near the Hidden Mist Village. On their way back, they meet up with Itachi and Kisame. They had come for Naruto. Gui fought Kisame while Neji, Lee, and Naruto fought Itachi. Though all fought bravely, Gui was killed by Kisame. The death had changed Lee. He was now set on avenging the man who had given him so much.

Lee stopped to eat. Though it wasn't really his way, he knew that with out food, his body would soon give out and there would be no point in him being here. He carried a loaf of bread and bite into it evey once in a while.

As he ate, Lee decided to walk. It would keep his body moving so he would still be training.

_Gui-sensai, I will kill the man who killed you! It is what I must do before I die!_

Lee walked past trees for ages, not really going anywhere.

Something hit his foot and he tripped. Lee looked to see what it was.

"Sakura!"

oOo oOo oOo

"What should I do, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked despretly. The two of them were the only ones left in the rooms.

Naruto had his head in his hands. Nothing was going right. He had wanted Sasuke to stay. Start a new life. He would have given his friend anything he wanted. But did Sasuke want to leave? Is that what he truly wanted? And was Naruto willing to give that?

"Let's form a search team, like last time. But make it bigger this time. The stakes are higher now. If you go up against him again and loose again, he won't leave you like last time. Like it or not, Sasuke is an Akatsuki member now and will take you back with him. You will be killed there. You are my Hokage, Naruto, but you are also my friend. I won't make the mistakes I did last time and put my friends in such danger!"

"Make the preporations," Naruto said quietly, "and remember, I'm going with you as a friend not a Hokage. Don't treat me different from the others."

Shikamaru nodded and left Naruto alone to think.

_Sasuke, you got your self in deep this time._

oOo oOo oOo

"You got your self in deep this time."

"Shut up. She wanted to die. I could tell before we even got close to her. "

"If you say so."

* * *

Hope you like this chapter! Please don't flame! I'll try to have the next chapter up soon! 


	5. Time and Place

Yes, it's short and yes, it's mushy and YES, Sakura is dead. Sorry but I hate her! and anyone who hates me for killing her, bug off! As for me, I'm going to go party with my Sakura-hating friends!

* * *

Rock Lee sat in front of Sakura's limp body. She looked asleep, but she wasn't breathing and there was no sign of a heart beat or pulse. Tears spilled down Lee's face and onto Sakura's skin. It was pale and cold.

_Who did this to you, Sakura? How could this have happened? Why you?_

A shadow moved through the trees across them. Lee looked up. It was Tenten.

_The last person I wanted to see!_ Lee thought.

Tenten came up to them slowly. When she saw Sakura, her legs felt like Jell-O.

"Lee, what happened?"

"I am not sure," he said through clenched teeth, "but the person that did this will pay!"

"Lee..."

"Is there a reason why you are here, Tenten?"

"Well, yeah. Shikamaru sent me to find you."

"Alright, then, I will go with you."

Lee picked up the body and walked with Tenten back to the village.

oOo oOo oOo

Shikamaru was waiting for them at one of the training grounds. He was with Kiba, Shino, Choji, Neji, Ino, Hinata, and Naruto. There were also other anbu and jonin like Kakashi. Dogs were every where. Both Kakashi's and Kiba's.

Lee gently placed Sakura's body on the ground and walked up to Naruto. Naruto had seen her body. He was shocked and hurt. An ache deep in his heart threatened to burst out. But he held it back. He was Hokage, after all, and with the little respect he already got, showing weakness was not a good idea.

But regardless of what he did, a tear still escaped Naruto's eye. It streamed down his cheek and fell from his chin. Why did Sakura have to die? Why did anyone have to die? He didn't want this.

"Naruto," Shikamaru asked slowly, "where are Kazekage Gaara and his siblings?"

"They went back to their village. Gaara will meet us in one week with a team of his own. He said the sand village will be more then willing to help us with Akatsuki. We will begin looking for Sasuke and the Akatsuki in one week. I expect to see you all here then at 6 a.m."

They all agreed and went their separate ways.

Naruto walked over to Sakura's lifeless body. He put a hand on Lee's shoulder. Lee cried.

"Why?" his word was not more then a whisper.

"We all die someday," Naruto said, trying to hold in his own grief.

"Why her?"

"She will be missed."

There was a moment of silence.

"Lee, would you rather I told her family?"

Lee looked up to see the weak smile on Naruto's face.

_Naruto you are very strong._

"No, Hokage-sama, it is I who found her and I who must tell them. But thank you."

Naruto nodded and began his walk home.


	6. Making Plans and Taking Action

Ok so here is the next chapter! But before we start, I would like to thank all the people who reviewed and all the people who are reading this right now! You're the best! Also, I'll try to have a new chapter ready each week but they may come sooner or later so keep watching for them! thanks and enjoy!**

* * *

**

**one week later...**

Konkuro walked behind Gaara and Temari walked behind him. They were in the village now. Gaara had gathered all of the available ninja of the sand and brought them to Konoha. They were camped out side the village walls, waiting for Gaara to give them orders.

Gaara thought about the last time he had encountered a member of the Akatsuki. The one with explosive "art." He knew now that the man's name was Deidara, but Sasuke had killed him.

"Gaara!" the three saw someone running towards them. It was Hinata. She was waving her hands as she ran.

Gaara nodded and gave a small smile as Hinata ran up. She took a minute to catch her breath. Konkuro noticed that in the last year, Hinata had become less shy and much more confident.

"Naruto," she said, still a but breathless, "He sent me to get you. They're meeting and I'm supposed to take you and the other sand ninja to them."

Gaara nodded and looked to Temari and Konkuro. They turned, with out a word, and gathered the other ninja who were waiting outside the gate. Konkuro split the ninja into three groups. Each group had about 15 people. He led one. Temari led another. The last were to be led by Gaara. They went back to where Hinata and Gaara were still waiting. She took them to the meeting place and from there, they split into groups and were given orders.

Shikamaru was in charge. He made six groups. The first was Ino, Choji, and himself, along with 15 other leaf shinobi. The second was Naruto, Kakashi, and Gaara's group. The third was Kiba, Hinata, and Shino with 15 other leaf shinobi. Lee went with Konkuro's group and another 10 shinobi. The fifth group was Neji and Tenten with Temari's group. The last group was 20 shinobi led by a eight year old girl named Akane Kaji.

Akane's group and Naruto's group would follow Sasuke from the back. Shikamaru's and Kiba's groups would follow to the right. Konkuro's and Temari's groups would follow to the left. The would split up into smaller groups as they went but each group was to keep close and in their area.

Naruto, Gaara, and Akane decided to combine their groups and the split into three. Gaara took all the sand shinobi and fell behind. Naruto and Akane too ten of the leaf shinobi and Kakashi led the other ten. They would try to get closer to Sasuke and Gaara would be their back-up.

"Hokage-same?"

"Please, Akane, call me Naruto. I am just another ninja out here."

"Alright then, Naruto. Why does this Uchiha mean so much to you?" Akane said the name "Uchiha" hatefully. She was an Uchiha herself. The last besides Sasuke. But when she was born, she and her parents were disowned. Her mother had married a Hyuga and the Uchiha leader hated her for it. Now Akane hated them!

"Akane," Naruto said distantly, "you know I'm the only one who knows your past."

Akane nodded.

"But you are one of many who doesn't know all of Sasuke's past. His is just as terrible as yours. The only difference is that he has had to live with hatred for one member of his clan but is still proud of his last name. While you, on the other hand, your entire clan, your name, and anyone related to it. Please, keep that in mind, Akane."

Akane nodded again. She knew he was right.

"Now to answer your question."

They had begun to split. Gaara's and Kakashi's groups were no where to be seen.

"Sasuke is a special person to me. A long time ago, we were rivals. I used to hate him and hate being beat by him in anything. He felt the same, I guess, 'cause we were always fighting. But when he left, I realized, getting him back was as much for me as it was to keep my promise to Sakura."

Naruto stopped talking. He didn't say anything else for a long time. Akane didn't fully understand what the two had been through, so she decided to leave it at that. It was hard for Naruto to talk about it. It showed in his eyes and in his voice.

They hurried through the forest silently. The only sound was the occasional thump when someone pushed off from a tree or the ground. After an hour, the stopped to rest. Naruto and Akane had actually stopped to find Kakashi and Gaara.

They all met under a large gathering of trees so that they were out of sight.

"Any sight of him?" Naruto asked.

"Blood was all over one area, but I doubt it has anything to do with Sasuke. Most likely some animal having lunch." Kakashi said almost whispering.

"Other then that?" Gaara asked.

"Nothing," Kakashi seemed troubled. "Do you think he changed direction and went somewhere else?"

"No, I think he it still headed in the same direction," everyone looked at Akane. "From what I heard from your first encounter, I think he wants you to follow and find him. It would make it easier for him to capture you, right, Naruto?"

"Yes, but it's not like Sasuke to do that. If he really wanted me he would have taken me when we were in Konoha and then fought his way out. Sasuke isn't about getting noticed. I think it would have been easier for him to "in-and-out" it and kill anyone who saw him."

Kakashi and Gaara agreed.

"So then why didn't he?"

"I think Sasuke is letting that girl have her way. Like when he got captured, Sasuke was holding back. He could have easily taken all of us but didn't. He let himself get captured. Why? I think to test that girl. To see if she could break him out."

"Naruto," Kakashi said slowly, "What if your wrong. What if he's doing all this to lead you wrong, then take you while we are out here."

"Maybe. We'll have to see."

oOo oOo oOo

Lee ran as fast as he could through the trees. Konkuro and Temari were having a hard time keeping up with him.

"LEE! SLOW DOWN!! YOU'RE GOIN' TOO FREAKIN' FAST!!!!!!!!" Konkuro yelled. Lee slowed down but very little. He was determined to kill the one who killed Gui and even more, the person who killed Sakura!!

"What's his hurry? I didn't think he liked Sasuke." Temari asked.

"No, it's not for Sasuke. We are heading into Akatsuki territory. For a long time now, Lee has been harboring a hatred for the man who killed Gui-sensei. This might be his chance to kill him." Neji explained.

"He sounds more like Sasuke than the Lee that fought Gaara years ago." Konkuro said. Temari and Tenten nodded their agreement.

"There is someone ahead." Neji said suddenly.

"What does he look like?" Tenten asked.

"His chakra is strange. He's maybe our age. Uh-oh."

"What?" the other three shouted at once. They had stopped to let Neji get a closer look. Lee sensed the pause behind him and stopped too, though he was ahead of his team.

Neji turned away from Lee and spoke so that only the other three could hear him.

"He is carrying _two_ swords and one of them is the sword that killed sensei."

"Two?" Tenten gasped, "But the man who killed Gui-sensei only had one! Do you think he's gotten stronger?!"

"No," Neji said thoughtfully, "It's not the same Chakra as the other man. Only the sword. I think someone beat Lee to killing that man."

"What about Lee?" Konkuro asked.

"I think he will want to kill this man even more."

"But why?" Temari whined. She didn't understand a man's need for revenge!

"Simply because Lee will see it as being striped of his duty to avenge his sensei. He will think that this new guy deserves to die even more because he had no right to kill like Lee does. That's the way he will see it. But that's not the way it is."

"That's right," Tenten chimed in. "He doesn't have the right to kill either!"

Lee came up to them. The four became deathly quiet.

"There is a man coming," Lee said, "and I am going to meet him. He may know about Sasuke."

"Lee, wait!" Konkuro said with authority. "Like it or not, for now you are under me and will take orders from me. I don't want you to go alone. We will all go and meet this man together! And you will stay with the other ninja and let the leaders lead! Is that clear!"

Lee was shocked at how commanding Konkuro sounded. He simply nodded and let the others pass before continuing with the others in the back.

* * *

ok well that was the chapter! tell me what you think! all you have to do is press the pretty little button down there and review! and again, thanks for reading! 


	7. Revenge or Death

Here's chapter seven! yup it's early! thank DarkMoonPhase! she keeps me writing with her comments! thank you! and enjoy!

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Shikamaru hurried ahead of the rest of his team. He was nervous. The fact that he was working with his old team, Ino and Choji, reassured him a bit, but after the fight with Zakuro, he wasn't sure they could take on any of the Akatsuki and live. 

Ino looked up at her team mate. She noticed his worried expression.

"Shika? You ok?" she asked softly. He nodded with out a word.

"You're not," Choji stated. Shikamaru inwardly moaned. Sometimes Choji knew him a little too well!

"I was just thinking about that girl. The on that was with Sasuke. She's even more troublesome than Temari! But to think, if she is partners with Sasuke, and Sasuke is part of the Akatsuki, how strong are the other members? We haven't met them all you know! How troublesome!"

Choji rolled his eyes but agreed with Shikamaru. The Akatsuki was a strong group, that's for sure!

"You know," said the Kiba, coming up from behind, "If Sasuke's team joined Akatsuki with him, than we know allot of the members already."

Shikamaru nodded, remembering the many times they had encountered Hebi, Sasuke's team. But the thought still worried him that there might be other members that were much stronger than any of them. Even Naruto.

oOo oOo oOo

Sasuke sat and waited. He and Zakuro had stopped in a part of the forest that was hard to find. He knew though, that with the many Hyuga's, dogs and Aburame's looking for him, they would soon be found. Exactly what he wanted.

Zakuro looked at him strangely. She was thinking hard about something. He could tell, because when she was, her thoughts were loud. Yes, loud. Zakuro's thoughts could be heard. Somehow, when she thought hard, like she was doing now, Zakuro would unconsciously transfer her thoughts into the minds of others around her. It was a dangerous thing, especially in a battle. Sasuke had been teaching her to control it, but she still did it once in a while.

"Zakuro, be quiet," Sasuke said aloud. The transfer of thought stopped abruptly.

"Sorry," she mumbled. Sasuke smirked.

"Having regrets?" he asked.

"No," she shot back, "She was making a weird face at you! And then when she was crying and running around like a maniac, my freakin' good heart kicked in and I _had_ to put her out of her misery!"

"Making excuses?"

"NO!! IT WAS HER FAULT!! HER FAULT!!"

"Alright, alright." He smirked again. It was fun to tease her. She got so worked up sometimes, though.

oOo oOo oOo

Temari and Konkuro walked up to the stranger. Neji and Tenten followed directly behind them. The man was no stranger to them. In fact, they had fought against the man a few times. Only before, he had one sword, not two! Lee was behind everyone. The very last in line. He wanted to stay out of as many fights as he could to save his strength for a fight with the blue skinned freak who killed his Sensei!

"What took you so long? I've been waiting forever!" the man said. Temari began to talk but Konkuro beat her to it.

"Why were you waiting for us?" the man shrugged.

"Cuz Sasuke told me to."

"You know Sasuke?" Temari asked.

"Sure do. And he said to keep you guys busy for him."

"What do you mean 'keep us busy'?"

Well, I would ask you all to join me for dinner, but seeing as we are in the middle of a forest, I guess that won't work."

Temari and Konkuro were speechless. Was this guy for real? Who was he anyway?

"What's you name?" Konkuro asked.

"What's yours?" the man avoided the question.

"Tell us!" Temari demanded. Tenten looked at Neji. He shook his head. She nodded. They know the man all too well. But they also knew Lee. And knowing Lee, they both knew that he would never give up and would try to fight this guy to the death! They would just keep quiet and stay out of it.

"What's with the paint?" the man avoided the question. He was good at that.

"What paint?" Konkuro asked, a bit confused?

"That stuff on your face. It's paint right? But why? I mean, you kinda' look like some freak clown or something."

Konkuro's face got red with anger. Temari spoke up before her brother could do anything else.

"Look, all we want to know is your name and how you know Sasuke."

"How do I know Sasuke? Well, he and I are in the same group together."

The four froze.

"The same group?" Temari continued.

"Yeah, you know the one with the stupid coats and the gay clouds and nail polish and rings and stuff? They have this awesome hide out though. Real big! Lots of water." the man took out a bottle and gulped down some water from it.

"The Akatsuki?" Temari wanted to keep him talking.

"See? You do know it! What a bright girl! At first, you know when I saw you were sand ninja, I thought you'd all be dumb, you know? I mean, really, what kind of smart person can come from a place with almost no water?! But I guess you're different, huh?"

Temari gulped down the sarcastic insult and asked, "Could you tell us you name?"

"Could you tell me why you friend here wears purple and cat ears? I mean, that's almost as gay as the stupid "uniforms" at the Akatsuki!"

Lee had heard the commotion and came up to the front to see what was going on. He recognized the sword right away, but the man carrying it was not the man who killed Gui.

"Where is the blue man who carried that sword?!" Lee demanded.

The man shrugged, "I killed him. It was fun too. First, I cut of his..."

"YOU KILLED HIM!?!?!?!?!" Lee shouted, cutting of the man's explanation that no one really wanted to hear anyway.

"Well, yeah. If I didn't than I couldn't get his sword. Not that hard to figure out, eyebrows."

Lee fumed. He looked at his feet with his hands at his side. How could this happen? Gui's murderer? dead? But not by Lee's fists!

"I will kill you for what you have done!"

The man looked up.

"Oh? Did you want his sword too? Well, sorry but I beat you to it. You can't have it!"

"The man you killed. I was supposed to kill him! I do not care about any sword. He killed my sensei and now I must kill you for killing him!"

"Dude, that makes no sense at all! You're mind is freakin' messed up!"

Lee charged at the man. He ran so fast it was hard to see even the blur of his body. The man pulled the unwrapped sword of his back. He blocked Lee's every kick and punch with the side of the sword. Lee became more angry with every block. Couldn't he hit the guy once? It was like fighting Gaara all over again!

Lee flipped through the air, spinning his body completely around several times, before hitting the sword with his foot. He turned again, pushing off from the sword. The movement also push against the man holding the sword, leaving him a bit off balance. Lee used this. He turned his body to the side, hitting the man's hand.

"Not bad," the man said, calmly.

"Why do you not fight back?" Lee asked, enraged.

"There is no need to fight you. But if you want to die,"

"I WILL NOT LOOSE TO YOU!"

Lee kicked up with one leg and down with the other leg, turning his body on his hands against the trunk of the tree they were on. The man turned the sword vertical with the hilt by his head. Lee's kicks were blocked but he now had both feet on the sword. He pushed hard. The man half jumped, half stumbled to the next tree, landing on a lower branch.

"There's really no use fighting me like that, eyebrows. With one swing of the blunt of my sword, I could kill you."

"I would truly like to see you try! The power of youth that burns in me will not allow you to kill me!"

"Power of youth, huh? Now _that's_ gay!" the man laughed.

Lee charged at him. He pushed the sword again. But this time, instead of pushing the man back, Lee was pushed, hard, onto the ground. He hit the floor with a painful thud. The man jumped down, landing beside Lee. He leaned, lazily on his sword.

"Where'd all that 'power of youth' crap go?"

Lee struggled to push himself of the ground and stood on shaky legs.

"You're too cocky. Against Kisame, you would have died long ago."

Lee stood quietly. He heard what the man said and knew it was true. Like this he didn't even stand against Gaara. Lee knew what he had to do. He had to go full force if he wanted to beat this guy!

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Sorry, DarkMoonPhase, but unless you already know who it is, the man's name will not be revieled untill chapter eight. But don't worry! I'm already half done! please review and tell me what you think! I tried to put more detail in this fight and make it seem more realistic! my sister helped me a whole lot too! hope you liked it! 


	8. Memories Return, Pain Ends All

**darkmoonphase: **Am I, like, the only one reading this friggin' awesome story?! Wow.

**me:** I don't know, but if you are then thanks so much for reading! And thanks for keeping me writing!

Now on to Chapter 8!

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Naruto and Akane continued. Kakashi went ahead a bit. His dogs had found a scent and he was following them, following it.

Kakashi followed quietly. He was thinking about Sasuke. Did he really want Naruto to kill him? Or was Sasuke planning something else? His dogs stopped suddenly. He did too. In front of them stood a man wearing a mask.

"Hello," he said cheerily. Kakashi stood and stared for a moment. The man was wearing an Akatsuki uniform but he didn't look evil at all. In fact, by the way he was standing and the tone of his voice, he was more like a kid.

"You know, it's rude to stare. And when someone says hello, it's nice to say hello back."

"Who are you?"

"Well, my name is Tobi. You're Kakashi. And you are looking for Sasuke. Well, he's not here but he told me to keep you busy or something for a while."

"Keep me busy?"

"Yeah, but I can't kill anyone unless it's 'absolutely necessary'! Personally, I would rather stay at home. It's too hot outside."

Kakashi was shocked at how weird this guy was acting. He decided to keep him talking.

"Why do you wear a mask?"

"Why do you?"

Kakashi thought for a minute.

"So no one will se my face."

"Well, than me too." Tobi answered.

"Why do you work for Akatsuki?"

"Hmm...'cause I want to."

"Why do you want to hide you face?"

"Why do you?"

"Why do you keep avoiding the questions I ask?"

"Why do you keep asking questions?"

"Fine, I will demand. Tell, me what you are planning to do to 'keep me busy'!"

"Fight you, I guess."

Tobi through a kunai at Kakashi suddenly. Kakashi almost didn't see it. He quickly pulled up his head band, cursing that he didn't so it earlier. Another kunai flew at him. he moved to the side by also into the path of a third. Kakashi was hit in the shoulder. He winced at the pain. Tobi was fast. His movements couldn't even be seen by the sharingan. That meant there was someone else behind him who was actually throwing the weapons.

Kakashi pulled the kunai out of his shoulder and threw it to Tobi's right.

"You missed." Tobi said in a sing-song voice. Kakashi threw another to Tobi's left.

"You missed again!" Tobi bragged in the same annoying voice. Kakashi threw four above Tobi's head. They all landed behind Tobi.

"Your aim has gotten worse, Kakashi!"

Kakashi ignored the comment and reached for another kunai, but something was wrong. He didn't have his pouches! Any of them! They were all gone! He reached into his vest pocket for a scroll but they were gone too!

"Looking for these?" Tobi displayed Kakashi's things in front of him. He glanced at Tobi's eyes. Well, eye hole or whatever. When he looked around again, he was in a different place. At first, he didn't know where he was and began to panic.

"What's going on?" he yelled.

"Don't you remember?" a voice came from behind him. Kakashi turned. It was Tobi. But the childish attitude was gone. He was really scary!

"Come on, Kakashi! You must remember this place! It wasn't so long ago that it happened!"

Kakashi took a better look around. He knew where he was.

"You remember now. Good."

"What's going on? How are you doing this?"

"The same way Itachi did many times before. On Sasuke. One Naruto. On you"

Kakashi looked at Tobi, turning his body around.

"I'm glad you remember." Tobi continued, "Because now I have come to claim what is mine. You see, this place. This is the very spot where I died."

Kakashi looked horrified. Could this really be?

Tobi slowly took off his mask. Kakashi was right.

oOo oOo oOo

Lee jumped out of range of the man's swings. He concentrated really hard and opened the gates. His power was at it's maximum now. He ran at the man even fast than before. His body hurt but he was set on killing this man. Lee kicked. He punched. He jumped and spun and hit as hard as he could. With much effort, he finally knocked the sword out of the man's grasp.

"Interesting." the man said. Lee spun and kicked the man's side. He was shocked to find that instead of pushing the man down, his foot felt nothing. No that wasn't right. He did feel something. Water. Lee pulled his foot away and looked at the man. The side Lee had kicked was slowly turning back to skin. But how? This man had turned himself into water! Lee kicked again and again. Every time the same thing happened. He punched the face and kicked at his legs. Lee tried the man's side again.

"You know," he said as his side turned from water back to it's normal form, "You want to kill me so bad, you would risk your own life. That's even stupider then Karin. But the funny thing is, eyebrows, you don't even know the name of the man you want to kill."

Lee thought about this. He stood carefully.

"Tell me what you name is!" he demanded.

The man then swung Kisame's sword full force and hit Lee who was taken off guard by the comment. The sword hit Lee's left shoulder and was pulled down his left arm and leg, making deep cuts and sliced on the skin. Lee screamed.

"My name is Suigetsu. And you need to be smarter when you fight. For example, you have been favoring your right side. Punching and kicking with mostly your right side. Why, I wonder. Possibly something happened to you left side sometime in you past. I really don't care about details. But now your enemy, me in this case, knows that you are more vulnerable on the left side. Turns out I was right."

Through this speech, Lee was trying to steady himself. His left side was totally useless. He was starting to feel faint from loss of blood. Suigetsu picked up Zabuza's sword. He now held that sword in his left hand and Kisame's unwrapped sword in the other.

"Gosh, eyebrows, I almost feel sorry for you." Suigetsu raised Kisame's sword and brought it down hard on Lee's right side. Lee's screams were heard for miles. Lee's team was frozen. The couldn't see what was going on! The forest was too thick. Was Lee the one screaming? Was it the man? Had Lee won or lost? Were either of them dead? The second scream sent shivers up their spines. Tenten wanted to go and help, but decided not to. If Lee was winning, he would hate her for interfering. But if he was loosing...

Back on the forest floor, Lee lay shivering on his back. His right arm was taken off completely and his leg was cut beyond repair! He tried to open his eyes. There was a rush of metal and leaves, then something pressed to his neck. Suigetsu had Lee's neck in the curve of Zabuza's sword.

"What happened to that 'power of youth' you were talking about, huh?"

Lee moaned. The pain was slowly decreasing. His body was numbing. It was getting hard to see.

"Sakura," Lee whispered with the last of his strength, "I will soon join you."

Suigetsu pulled the sword sideways making a clean line in the dirt. And Rock Lee was no more.

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Sad? Hope you enjoyed! More soon to come! Thanks for reading and please review! 


	9. And We Go Our Separate Ways

And here's chapter 9! Enjoy!

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Naruto and Akane ran faster through the trees. Someone was ahead and they hoped it was Sasuke. When they got to the man, it wasn't Sasuke, but another Akatsuki member. 

"Naruto, my name is Zetsu. I am here to challenge you to a battle!" Naruto stopped, eyes widened.

"How do you know me?"

"I saw your fight with Sasuke-sama."

"And you want to fight me?"

"Or your team mate. I need a good battle and you both are strong."

Akane turned to Naruto.

"I'll fight him and catch up later. You go on and find Sasuke."

Naruto nodded. The other shinobi stayed with Akane, sure their Hokage would use his forsaken demon like always to kill Sasuke and secretly hoping Naruto would die also.

Zetsu stepped forward ready to attack. He didn't pay attention to the boy running past him. He didn't care either. He had done his job.

oOo oOo oOo

Kiba and Akamaru stood and waited for the rest of the team to catch up. Shikamaru was the first to reach them.

"Report!"

"There's someone ahead of us. I think he's waiting for something. Also, battle have been going on everywhere! I can smell lots of blood."

"And the other shinobi? Sent out before you?"

"No sign of them."

Shikamaru nodded. His face etched with worry. Could they have been killed? Maybe taken hostage? He had to calm down! They still had the mission to think about.

oOo oOo oOo

Gaara came up to a group of wounded leaf shinobi. He asked one of them what happened.

"A member of Akatsuki. He is fighting Akane-sama. When we tried to help, he quickly took us all out."

"All of you?"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama."

"Is Akane the only one fighting now?"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama."

"And Naruto? Is he alive?"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama."

Gaara left the medical sand ninja with the leaf shinobi and went by himself to help Akane. He sent the other sand shinobi to find Kakashi's team. They would need help too, he was sure.

oOo oOo oOo

Obito walked in circles around Kakashi, hissing insults and spitting comments that made Kakashi feel more and more guilty. His body hurt. Tobi repeatedly stabbed Kakashi's body. He cut the mask and head band off Kakashi's face, leaving a deep scar down the left side of his face from his ear to his jaw. The clatter of metal against stone, as his headband fell, rang in Kakashi's ears. It banged again and again, hurting his head and making him feel dizzy. The clatter became higher until it had turned into screams. Over and over again.

Kakashi fell to his knees, hands on his ears, screaming for it to stop. It didn't. Above the screams, Obito's voice was heard, taunting Kakashi.

"It was your fault I died! It was your fault! And the you took my eye! You killed my love! You let our sensei die! Everything you loved taken from you! And me! Everything was your fault!"

"STOP IT!!! STOP IT!!! STOP IT!!!"

"Now I want you to feel it! I want you to feel the pain of death! But even more, I want you to feel the torture of knowing that someone could have helped you but didn't!"

"NO! OBITO! WHY? IT WASN'T MY FAULT! I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING! PLEASE! OBITO! NO!!!"

A giant stone rolled from a cliff. The same stone that had crushed Obito. Kakashi felted the stone on his body. He felt a shooting pain from his legs to his chest. The sounds stopped. He screamed. The stone was crushing him, slowly.

Kakashi looked up. Obito smiled.

"Good-bye, old friend."

Obito lifted his arm. He thrust a kunai through Kakashi's skull. Kakashi lay limp in the real world. Nothing seemed to be wrong with him. Blood trickled from his mouth.

Gaara's shinobi came up to him, followed by Kakashi's team. They all stared at the cold body. Kakashi was dead.

oOo oOo oOo

"Shika! What's wrong!?" Ino came up running behind him. "Everyone is dead! Everyone! All the shinobi! They're dead, Shika! But how?!?! WHAT'S GOING ON!!!"

Ino was going crazy. She wasn't able to handle herself. But it was understandable. She was just come upon over 30 dead shinobi. Not one of them was recognizable anymore! It was only them now.

Ino, Choji, Hinata, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Shino. What had gone wrong? What had happened?!

"You're here! Finally! I was getting bored killing those weaklings!"

"Jugo," Shino muttered.

"You know this guy?!" Ino said, eyes wild with fear. Kiba nodded.

"Shino and I fought him once."

"What is he?" Shikamaru asked, voice low.

"He's the source." Shino explained. "The beginning of the curse marks. Like the one on Sasuke or that girl Tayuya."

Shikamaru looked at Jugo.

"And we have to fight this guy?!!"

"Better to try not to. We only lived because Sasuke told him to stop before he could kill us!"

"Then what do you do?!" Choji asked nervously.

"Wait."

"And try to stay alive!" "Bark!!"

oOo oOo oOo

A man quietly observed the fight between Lee and Suigetsu. He watched the fight between Kakashi and Tobi. He saw Jugo meet Shika's team. And he saw the beginnings of a fight between Akane and Zetsu. He watched all of these with well trained eyes. He learned as much as he could from all of these people. Now his target was different. A young man with bright blonde hair and an orange and black jacket and pants. The man had been running for a while and now stopped to rest. The observer decided to keep watching this person. He knew it would soon turn out to be a very good show.

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Thanks for reading! Sorry this is so short! Please review! 


	10. More Death? Good or Bad?

Sorry for the delay! i was so busy with family visiting and then my grandpa's in the hospital right now! so forgive me for the delay and spare me from your wrath!

and thanks darkmoonphase for all you comments! if you hadn't of commented, i would have given up a long time ago!

* * *

Naruto stopped to rest by a large tree. He had been running all day and was glad for a chance to stop. But as soon as he caught his breath, Naruto was ready to go again!

"Gotta' admire his determination!" Naruto's observer said under her breath. Naruto didn't hear her. He was already out of range by the time she said it. She followed him quietly for another hour. Finally she got tiered of the game and decided to come out of hiding.

Naruto had stopped to rest again. At the place he choose to stop, he found a small steam and some wild berries and he ate them gratefully while drinking the cold, sweet water.

There was a rustle in the branches above him. Naruto quickly pulled out a kunai and readied to defend himself. After about five minutes of no other noises, Naruto decided to continue. He never let his guard down, though.

He came to a clearing. There was a small stone pillar there. It marked the edge of the forest. Naruto looked around. Which way would Sasuke have gone? If he kept going, Naruto knew he would reach the Village Hidden in the Mist, but if he changed direction, he'd be headed for Gaara's home. The Akatsuki were near here but should he really go that way? Even to find Sasuke it seemed a bit too risky. Then again, Naruto was all about taking chances! And he still had a promise to keep! Sasuke would come home!

Naruto was about to begin to the Akatsuki's old hideout when someone stepped out of the trees. It was the girl that he had seen with Sasuke. What was her name? Zakuro!

She was dressed the same, her hair was pulled back into a bun. She had three shuriken in one had and three kunai in the other.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" she called daringly, "You are not worthy of Sasuke's friendship!"

"What?! What the heck are you talking about!?"

"Sasuke has a plan for you, and though I'm not totally sure what it is yet, you better believe it has your death written all over it!"

Naruto stared at her. Was this true? Was he really going to die if he found Sasuke?

Naruto felt the fox inside him restlessly trying to push himself out. He felt the red chakra boiling inside his chest. Zakuro saw a hint of red chakra surrounding Naruto. This was her job. What Sasuke had told her to do. But now that she had made Naruto's fox show it's self, she wanted to fight it! She wanted to kill it! To prove to Sasuke that she was strong!

Naruto looked up at the girl. His eyes were red and his whisker marks were dark. He knew the fox was gaining more control over his body each time he used the chakra, but this was the first time the fox had gotten out with out Naruto calling it. He was scared.

Zakuro eyed the man. His attitude changed totally. He was no longer looking at her with fear and sorrow. Now his eyes were filled with hate, murder, and something else. Something wild. She couldn't even give it a name. It scared her!

"You think my Naruto is unworthy of the Uchiha's friendship! How are you worthy?! Do you think you're stronger than us?! If so, than why aren't you Hokage!? Why couldn't you kill or injure even one of the people you fought?! We could have! We could have killed them all! But you! You barley escaped!"

The demon became more evident as it spoke. Naruto's voice changed. It was darker, deeper, more evil! His chakra had shaped itself around him. It looked now like Naruto was only the base of a giant demon fox, with five tails.

Naruto screamed and as he did, the demon fox roared. To voices came from one mouth. Zakuro be so scared she couldn't move! She couldn't think! She couldn't even breath! She felt an arm around her waist. Something was pulling her. She turned quickly, getting some control of her body again, and saw Sasuke.

"Thank you," he said in an emotionless voice, but his eyes held hurt in them. Zakuro feared that her Sasuke was just as scared as she. But he wasn't. He let go of her and walked slowly towards Naruto.

Naruto saw him and growled.

oOo oOo oOo

Sai led Kakashi's team and the sand shinobi to find Kakashi. He had been in charge of Kakashi's team since Kakashi left to check out something. Now they were all following one of the dogs to find out what became of Kakashi. The dog led them to a clearing. When the entered, something felt wrong. Sai looked around and saw all but three of Kakashi's ninja dogs lying dead on the ground. The dog following looked around for a minute then disappeared. Sai tried to call it to stay but was too late. He heard one of the ninja's yell then fall to the floor dead. Then another. Then another.

Sai ran. He ran as fast as he could. Every single shinobi that had been with him was now dead. They had been fine one minute then they just died. Sai feared for his life. He ran and ran for what felt like forever! Then he realized something horrible. He was running in circles. Sai was standing in the same clearing. And there in front of him was an Akatsuki member with only half a face.

Sai almost threw up.

Even worse than that, the man was standing over a dead Kakashi and behind him was a pile made of the dead shinobi. Sai felt his legs shaking. He tried to run but couldn't move. His knees buckled and he fell.

The man stepped over Kakashi and placed a mask on his face. He turned and knelt beside Kakashi's face. He took out a kunai and cut into the dead man's face. Then he removed the sharingan eye. His hand slipped under his mask. Then he took the kunai in his hand again and drove it into the mask. The man cut out an eye hole. Now he did a few hand signs.

Sai watched all this in horror! The man now had both eyes and was looking at him with the same awful way Sasuke had looked at him years before. Was it possible? Was this man also an Uchiha? Or maybe he only had the sharingan eyes like Kakashi had had. But that couldn't be! Kakashi was never able to use this skill with his Sharingan! This man had to be an Uchiha!

As he thought of all the ways he might be able to escape, Tobi walked over to him, taking three kunai out of a pouch inside his coat. He added them to his hand then displayed the four weapons in front of his face.

"Are you going to stand there and watch your own death? Or will you move and at least try to escape!" Tobi was behind Sai now. How was this guy so fast?!

"There is no escape from you." Sai said, defeated.

"Smart."

"You are the only one I have ever meet that was able to bring up my emotions."

"Happy day. Is that supposed to mean something?"

"If it is by your hand, then I am honored to die!"

"Shut up! You're trying to kiss up to me now? When you are about to die! What is it you want? Tell me. I have killed many today and I don't like working myself to hard, so maybe you'll get lucky."

Sai smiled inside. Really, what kind of power did this guy have to make an emotionless person like himself feel happy, scared, sad, and scared.

"I want to join you. I was you to take me under your wing. Teach me all you know. Please make me your student, sensei!"

Tobi laughed. He laughed hard.

"Sensei? Who do you think you are!" Tobi said when he had calmed himself from the laughing fit. "What is your name?"

"Sai."

"Well then, Sai, let me tell you something. Do you know why I am in the Akatsuki?"

Sai shook his head.

"Well, it's because I am dead. Or I was. But a nice young man raised my lifeless body and filled it with the soul of a friend of his. I have every memory from this body's past, but I see everything in a different way. So if this body loved that man called Kakashi, it doesn't matter. All I see is a man that fought by me then stole my eye when I died."

Sai's eyes widened in horror. Was this guy telling the truth?

"Also, I am in the Akatsuki because I also have the memories of the soul's past. I am two people mixed together so that both could live. And do you know what my soul remembers most? It's one great love."

Tobi push one of the four kunai into Sai's stomach.

"It's love," he said next to Sai's ear.

Another was pushed in.

"For killing."

A third.

"So no,"

A fourth.

"I guess today wasn't your lucky day."

Sai fell in pain on the ground. He pulled out the kunai, praying that he would live.

Tobi watched as the boy before him tried to get up, but the loss of blood from the deep cuts was too much.

Sai fell again. He knew it was too late.

"As I said before, it is an honor to be killed by someone as strong at you."

And Sai died.

"Man, even the last words of that pathetic guy pissed me off!"

oOo oOo oOo

Zetsu easily avoided each and every attack the girl threw at him. She used every jutsu she knew to try and at least hit him once! Nothing worked. He moved quickly for someone with a giant plant on his head. He talked to himself too. It was like watching White Zetsu talk to Black Zetsu. Akane was at least getting information out of this fight. All she had to do was keep him moving until Naruto came back with Sasuke. It could take days!

But she was half Hyuga! And she was also, to her disgust, half Uchiha. She did have to admit to herself though, that being an Uchiha had it's ups as well as it's downs. For example, she did not have the sharingan, but she did have something similar to it that she had made up on her own. It was the byakugan with every single one of it's abilities but it also copied. It wasn't as fast or as accurate as the actual sharingan, but it worked. Another example was that she was fast! Her family said it was from the Hyuga side and maybe it was because she had no sharingan. But Akane had to wonder if maybe it was also a bit from the Uchiha side of her family. But the best "up" Akane could think of right now, was that both an Uchiha and a Hyuga had great natural chakra control and that because of the constant use of the Sharingan for the Uchiha's and the Byakugan for the Hyuga's, both had a special ability to use very little chakra for anything they did. Shikamaru had taught her how to measure her chakra many years ago, so Akane knew she had enough chakra to continue this fight for another two days non-stop if she had to.

Black Zetsu was grumbling to White Zetsu about something. The noise pulled Akane out of her thoughts. (A/N: Bold means Black Zetsu is talking.)

**"Why can't we just kill her! Then we could go after that delicious looking boy!"**

"No! Sasuke said we couldn't kill him."

**"But we killed all those other shinobi!"**

"No! We didn't kill them! We only injured them. They will live, unless their will to die is strong."

**"But that's no fun! And we haven't eaten in days!"**

"We disposed of three bodies yesterday! Don't you remember the spies Zakuro killed?"

**"That wasn't even a snack! Zakuro killed them with her vampire like jutsu's so it was like eating sand!"**

"Sand? How is this happening?!"

At the mention of sand, Zetsu felt a sandy arm snake it's way up his body. He was stuck in the strong hold of some kind of case made of hardened sand. The owner of this strange case soon showed himself. Akane was elated to have someone like Gaara help her! Zetsu scowled.

**"Now look what you've done! You've made us stuck! And there is no way we will be able to eat like this!"**

Gaara smirked. "You won't have to worry about that any more."

Gaara stretched his arm out in front of him. He opened his palm. Then he closed it quickly. He waited for the sound of the body being crushed. The blood spilling from the edges of the sand coffin. That old and all-to-familiar sound that was heard so much only a few years ago. He waited, but the sound never came. Instead, the sound that washed over his ears, was sand crushing sand then pooling on the floor of the forest.

Akane watched the pile of sand in shock. Gaara could only think of one explanation. But for this organic creature to be able to use a sand clone was almost as unrealistic as pigs flying or swords talking!

The sand in the middle of the pile began to rise and take shape.

oOo oOo oOo

Jugo didn't attack. He stood and watched the small group as they talked at panicked. He laughed to himself. How could such a smart looking bunch of kids be so panicked about one guy?! Then he recognized two of the boys. Yes, those two had ought him before. Now it made sense to him. They must be telling the others about that nice little fight they had back then.

One of the boys, the one with the dog, kept glancing up at him. Like he was going to attack a group of almost helpless, scared to death, loud annoying little kids! But then again, why not?

oOo oOo oOo

A man watched as Naruto began to transform into the fox. He watched as many more shinobi, including Sai, were killed. He watched as Gaara came to help Akane fight Zetsu. He watched as a large group gathered around the lifeless body of Rock Lee. And he watched as Neji, Konkuro, Tenten, and Temari left Rock Lee to chase his killer. He watched as a scared Zakuro ran from Naruto. Ran for her life. He watched. He watched and he waited.

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Sorry for the shortness but like i said, it's been busy over here!! next chapter will come sooner! maybe even later today! hope you enjoyed! please comment! it keeps my stories alive! 


	11. The Demon's Near Escape

sorry for the delay! it's been crazy here but things are calming down so the next chapter should be out sooner than this one was. thanks for waiting! please enjoy!

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Big fights coming up! um, just a little note, the bold in this chapter is the Kiyuubi talking. 

"Naruto," Sasuke said soothingly, trying to calm his friend down.

**"Naruto isn't here right now!" **he growled. Seven tails were shown in the mass of red chakra surrounding the blonde. Sasuke was calm. He knew that if the fox did come out completely, he could defeat it. But he didn't want to kill Naruto. He couldn't do that! He couldn't kill his best friend!

"Naruto, you're just as stubborn as ever. Please calm down and talk to me."

**"SASUKE!"** the fox boy screamed.

"What is it?" he said in the calmest voice anyone had ever heard.

**"You left! You left many times. He doesn't want you anymore! He came to kill you and now I will do it for him!"**

Sasuke smiled and shook his head.

"No Naruto. You won't kill me. But if you want to fight me, I will hold back to give you a chance."

**"FOOL!!" **The fox lunged at Sasuke. He tried to plant his fist in Sasuke's face, but Sasuke moved to the side. The fox punched and kicked. Sasuke countered every swing.

"Isn't this the same thing you did the last time we fought? But we were on water then. If you fall, it might hurt more. Be careful, Naruto."

**"SHUT UP, YOU INSULENT PEST!! I TOLD YOU, NARUTO IS'T HERE ANYMORE! HE'S GONE! FOREVER!"** The fox laughed evilly. Sasuke shook his head.

"No, poor Naruto. You are not gone. You are trapped. But I know that you are stronger than this. Fight."

Sasuke's sharingan came out and the fox froze. He hadn't been quick enough to look away and was trapped in Sasuke's gave.

**"THOSE EYES! THOSE CURSED EYE!"**

oOo oOo oOo

Sasuke walked through hallway after hallway. Each hallway was dripping. The floors were flooded with water up to Sasuke's ankles. He walked through quietly. His sharingan showed him the color of the chakra. The air was red. Blood red. It was hard to see more than a few feet in front of him. But there was something Sasuke was following. A faint line of blue chakra.

oOo oOo oOo

Naruto was trapped. He was inside a huge cage, in the mouth of the fox. It teeth dug into his skin, but not deep. The seal on the cage door was almost all gone.

Blood trickled down his arm and made an echoing drip when it fell to the water on the floor. Naruto had lost his shirt in the struggle with the demon. It lay in tatters in the water. Now, his chest had no protection from the sharp fangs that cut into him like he was butter. His pants were in better shape than his shirt, but not much better. Hi had no shoes and his hair was wet with water and blood and clung to the skin of his face and neck.

Naruto held hi hand tightly around his headband. I was the only thing that felt real to him right now. What if the fox really got out for good this time?! what would happen to his beloved Konoha and all his wonderful friends all over? Gaara, Konkuro, Temari. What would happen to them? What would happen to Shika, Kiba, Choji. What would happen to Sasuke? No, not Sasuke.

_Sasuke is strong enough to take care of himself. Hopefully, he will kill the fox before it can hurt or kill anyone._

A low growl came from the back of the throat and shook Naruto. The teeth came down harder and Naruto moaned in pain, trying not to yell. The fox was keeping him in this horrible life. Naruto was hovering over death, begging for it if only to stop the Kiyuubi. But the Kiyuubi wouldn't let him catch it.

The huge head began to shake back and forth. The teeth in Naruto's skin tore and sliced him. Naruto screamed. The pain was too great! He wanted death! He wanted the pain to stop! Naruto fell unconscious. The pain was gone, for now.

oOo oOo oOo

Sasuke heard a scream.

"Naruto..."

He ran in the direction of the scream. It followed the blue chakra trail so he knew it must be Naruto!

Sasuke heard crashing and banging coming from a room just ahead of his. He ran in. What he saw, he would never forget!

oOo oOo oOo

Naruto's body was still changing. The fox was almost completely out. His face had started to look more like that of a fox. His back was hunched over and he stood on four legs. But he was frozen. Although the body continued to change, Sasuke had him still as stone. He stared directly into the eyes of his deformed friend. Inside, there was a battle, but outside the body was peace, silence.

oOo oOo oOo

Sasuke stood, unable to move, for what he saw made him feel anger, pain, sorrow, hate, happiness, and fear all at the same time. Naruto was unconscious in the mouth of the demon fox. It was swinging his head back and forth to make Naruto swing with it. But what was worse, it was only Naruto's right arm that was in the demon's mouth. Also, the fox was swinging in a certain way, so that everything in it's path, from the bars of the cage door to the walls surrounding him, would instead be in Naruto's path. Naruto's body slammed into everything. The fox saw Sasuke and grinned. He threw Naruto to the ground. When the body hit, water went everywhere.

Sasuke watched in horror. He'd never seen anything so terrible. But this was a demon, after all. He should have expected it.

Sasuke found his legs again and ran to the cage. He pushed his way threw the bars and grabbed up Naruto's body.

**"Ah, two toys now? Someone out there must love me!" **The fox tried to grab Sasuke in his mouth. Sasuke was too fast. In the blink of an eye, he was standing on Kiyuubi's head, carrying Naruto on his back. The fox laughed and tossed his head back. Sasuke didn't move. His chakra kept him firmly planted and he pushed to keep his body straight against the force of the wind.

"Let Naruto go! Let us leave!" Sasuke demanded. Kiyuubi laughed again.

**"He's mine now! Why would I let him go?"**

"Because, I said so." Sasuke growled. He pulled his sword out, making sure not to hurt Naruto. Electricity flowed threw it. "Is it correct, demon, that in here, Naruto's body is not effected by what happens to you?"

Kiyuubi growled. **"You would take the source of Naruto's power?!"**

"Oh, no. I believe you helped in the past. But Naruto has gotten stronger on his own. You hindered him by just living, so I will get rid of you and enable him to become stronger than ever!"

Sasuke stabbed threw Kiyuubi's head. The blade sank deep and electricity from the sword flowed threw the demon's body. There was no sound. Not even a scream. Kiyuubi was dead.

Sasuke walked out of the cage and removed the seal. All at once, he was back in the forest clearing in front of Naruto. The blonde screamed and red chakra filled the air. For a while, Sasuke couldn't see. He turned off his sharingan.

"Naruto?" the chakra disappeared and he could see that Naruto was on the floor, struggling to raise himself. Sasuke pushed him back down to the ground with a hand n his shoulder.

"Sasuke?"

The two looked at each other.

"Sasuke! I found you! Please, come back to Konoha with me!"

"No, Naruto, I can't." Sasuke turned firm and emotionless again. He sensed someone was watching him.

"Why?" Naruto pleaded. A tear spilled. "You've been gone so long and, and, Sakura. She's dead now and.."

"I know. Zakuro killed her. It was painless, I promise." Sasuke still showed no emotion. He really didn't care either way because he hated Sakura, but he knew that Naruto had been very close to her.

"Sasuke, please, at least tell me why."

"I'm a member of Akatsuki now and must take you back to them."

"But the,"

"I know that. Be quiet."

Sasuke pushed a pressure point on Naruto's nock and he was out cold.

oOo oOo oOo

Naruto woke up in a small, cold cave. There was a metal door with a small window on one side. The rest was plain rock. Water dripped on Naruto's cheek. He moved before another drop could fall on him. Naruto stood up. Pain shot threw his body. It was like he had been thrown around like a ball. He ignored it and searched for a way to get out. There wasn't one.

A noise from outside the door caught Naruto's attention. He looked over at the door and reached for a kunai. Of course, his pouch was gone.

_Great!_

The door opened and someone walked in. The person was a man, dark hair, face covered in shadows. He wore and Akatsuki cloak.

"So you're the one, huh? The strongest? Hmm. I will let Sasuke handle you." And then he left. Naruto was dazed. What was going on? What was going to happen to him? What was going on with his friends? And what in the world was Sasuke going to "handle"?

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Thanks for reading! Please review! ('cause reviewers get cookies!!) 


	12. Near the End

Sorry this chapter i much shorter than the others! there wasn't much to say in this chapter. truth is, i had to take alot out of it for the plot's sake! that's why it's so short! but keep reading! there will be more to come! and thanks to my reviewer! you're the best!

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Zetsu stood in the middle of a pool of sand. He watched to see what Gaara's next move would be. 

"How?" he said, amazed. Few had ever been able to survive one of his sand coffin attacks and even then, the way they did it was usually obvious. But this guy didn't use a frog, like Naruto. He didn't use a jutsu like lightning of the bone thing used by the sound ninja. He just rose from the sand as if it were water.

Zetsu looked at him silently.

"Tell me how!" Gaara demanded. Zetsu laughed.

"How?"

"How did you do it?!"

"Oh do you mean, how did I survive your little attack? I used a jutsu that lets my body become what is around me. Very simple. I use it mostly for spy missions, but it worked well against this attack."

Gaara stared at this strange man. How was he to help Akane if the attacks he used would only be countered by this strange jutsu? Akane was panting, trying to catch her breath. Gaara looked at her. He knew that with her mixed blood, she would be able to last much, much longer then he would. But what could he do?

oOo oOo oOo

Kiba stared nervously at the tall man. He was almost expecting Jugo to charge at them and kill them all right then and there. Shikamaru sensed this and put a hand on Kiba's shoulder.

"We'll be alright." he said. Kiba nodded but didn't take his eyes off the enemy.

"Are you guys going to stand around and talk all day or are we going to have some fun?!" Everyone turned to look at Jugo. He was smirking and had his hands on his hips. Shino, who was standing behind everyone now, extended his arms and let swarms of his bugs surround his body and go under the group to where Jugo was. Shikamaru moved his hands slightly, making hand signs, then putting his hands at his sides, then making more signs.

Jugo started laughing crazily. He was about to jump at them when Sasuke rushed from the trees.

"JUUGO!" Jugo stopped and turned, fear evident on his face. "I told you not to kill. Your job is done! Naruto is with Tobi. I told him to see if he could handle him. And I told you to hold them off, not kill their entire squad!"

Jugo looked away from Sasuke's eyes. It was like watching a child get rebuked by his father. Sasuke moved behind Jugo.

"Go back," he said. "I still have to find the others."

oOo oOo oOo

Sasuke found Suigetsu. He told him to go back to the hide out. On his way back, Sasuke saw that the forest was littered with bodies. Rock Lee, Kakashi, Sai, shinobi from the leaf and sand villages. He shook his head sadly. Why did everyone have to kill? This wasn't what he wanted. On his way to find Zetsu, he saw Neji, Tenten, Kankuro, and Temari.

"Sasuke!" Tenten whispered. Neji had sensed him a long time ago but hadn't said anything. Temari looked over to see the person they had been looking for.

"Please listen to me." Sasuke said, coming closer. Kankuro nodded and waited for Sasuke to continue.

"I have Naruto." The four gasped. "No harm will come to him or any more of you if you leave right now. Go back to Konoha and stay there."

"Sasuke, we can't just leave and let our Hokage face things alone." Neji said defiantly.

"Yes, you can! You have to." There was something about the way Sasuke looked at Neji, or the look on his face while he spoke. What ever it was, Neji saw it. He nodded.

"We will trust you then." he said after a long time.

"What?!" Kankuro, Tenten, and Temari said at the same time. Neji looked at each of them.

"We have to trust Sasuke." he said. Kankuro sighed and motioned for everyone to turn around. They were going back.

oOo oOo oOo

Sasuke left the group to find Zetsu. He hoped the two sided plant freak had listened to him and not killed any one!

Sasuke found Zetsu in the middle of a battle. He recognized Gaara, but there was another girl he didn't know. He shrugged it off and called Zetsu. The man turned around right away to look at him.

"It's over. Go back." And with that, the two men vanished, and the fight was over. Gaara looked to Akane.

"What do you think he meant?" she asked. Gaara looked back to where Sasuke had been.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling we'll find out soon." Akane nodded and she and Gaara went back to help those who were hurt.

oOo oOo oOo

A man walked along through the forest, watching as Sasuke gathered his group. He noticed another person following Sasuke and smirked. It was only a matter of time now.

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Thanks for reading this crap that's too short to call a chapter! please review! 


	13. The Quick Escape

i am so so very sorry! this chapter is soooooooo late! and then after all that waiting, i give you this lousy excuse of a chapter! i'm really sorry! i have huge writers block as to how to make the next chapter longer! but, just so you know, (and get your yelling at me over with) i'm planning on ending it with the next chapter. now there might be a sequal if darkmoonphase wants one or not! then i might try and think of one. but anyway, again i'm really sorry! but try to enjoy it anyway. maybe it will turn out ok. who knows?

* * *

Naruto paced inside the small cell. He wasn't sure what would happen to him, but he knew that if it were anything like what they did to Gaara, he would have to fight to! Uzumaki Naruto would not die! 

The door opened again. A women walked in this time. She had glasses and strangly cut red hair. Naruto didn't think she looked very stronge or bad but she wore an Akatsuki outfit. She walked up to him and tied his hands together.

"Sasuke wants you," she said, yanking on the rope to make Naruto stand. The two walked through many tunnles, going deeper and deeper into the caves. Naruto figured they were either in a mountain or underground. Maybe he could sneek a small toad out of this place, or maybe even a clone, and tell someone where he was.

The women stopped at a large door. It wasn't fancy, just big. She pushed it open just a little. They heard Sasuke's voice and she opened the door wide enough for Naruto to step in.

"Naruto, please come here. I need to speak with you." The women gave Naruto a hard push, then slammed the door closed. Sasuke didn't flinch. His face was unreadable. Naruto didn't move from his place at the door.

"Naruto, do you know what Akatsuki plans to do to you?" Naruto nodded. "Do you know who the current leader is?" Naruto shook his head. "I am, Naruto. That's the bigest problem you have." Naruto's eyes widened and he stepped back.

"Sasuke? You're the..."

"Listen. In front of others, I have to act like the leader of a criminal organization. Here, in this room, I don't. You need to pay close attention now. No spacing out." Naruto nodded. "I have a plan to get us both out of this. If you go along with it, you'll be able to live. All the others have gone back to Konoha. I'm sorry but a few were killed in battles." Naruto nodded. He would find out who later on. "All you have to do is go along with everything I say. And you have to trust me! Got it?" Naruto noddedd. Sasuke walked over to him and patted his shoulder. Then he opened the door and walked Naruto back to his cell. On the way back, Sasuke ran into Karin, the women who had taken Naruto to him.

"Karin, I have a mission for you. Go and find Zakuro. She never returned." Karin nodded and hurried away down the hall.

oOo oOo oOo

Zakuro paced in front of the entrance to the Akatsuki head quarters. She really didn't know what to do. What she had seen with the Kyuubi had scared her so much! But the way Sasuke handled everything was even scarrier! It was terrifying to think that he had that kind of power! She would never be that strong! So how could she continue to be his aprentice, or whatever she was to him. The poor girl walked away from the entrance and into the trees around it. There was a clearing there that she knew held the graves of many past Akatsuki members. It was her place to think, clear her mind, and train.

As she walked through the forest, she thought she heard someone's thoughts. Could it be that someone was following her? Maybe. But why would anyone want to follow her? It was just wierd. She had many enemies but most of them were dead and all the others she knew of were too weak to chalenge her. She shrugged it off and continued to walk to her the clearing.

She arrived there soon after and choose a spot in the center to sit down and clear her mind. Zakuro sat Indian style with her legs crossed and her back straight. She held her arms straight out in front of her, palms toward eachother, and concentrated her chakra into her hands. Then she began the slow prosses of litterally clearing her mind.

This was a dangerous process for her. First, when she had a large amout of chakra circling the empty space between her hands, she would push the chakra through her head and pull out all the thoughts of others that had gathered when she read minds. When she was done, it came out as a water like substance that she would dump out before continuing.

Next, Zakuro gathered another large amount of chakra in her hands. Then she pushed it through her head a different way. The first time, she would start from the forhead to the back of the head. The second time, she would go from the right side to the left side. She would then dump those thoughts and repeat ths process from left to right. This too out all her unneccesary thoughts.

Lastly, Zakuro would put her hands on her temples right by her eyes. She would make the chakra form in her hands and swirl inside her mind. This put her thoughts in order.

During this process, Zakuro was the most vulnerable, because she had to "turn off" all her mental powers. Meaning, she wouldn't be able to tell if someone was going to attack or not because her mind would be totally shut down.

This is the exact reason why the observer decided to strike now. He lunged at her, hand swirling with chakra, and drove it like a dager through her back. Zakuro didn't move at first. She just sat there. He had hit her heart and lungs. She was dead right away, but her body stayed in the position for a moment before falling to the ground, face forward. The observer stepped back and spat at her corpse.

"Witch!" he hissed before walking away.

oOo oOo oOo

Karin walked out of the entrance to the hide out and immidietly smelled blood. She also senced a somewhat familliar chakra but she didn't know who's it was. She decided to find out what was bleeding so much before she began her search for Zakuro.

It turned out, she accomplished both tasks at the same time. She found that the blood was coming from Zakuro's dead body and that the chakra she sensed earlier was closer now. Karin knew that Sasuke would want to know who killed her, whether he cared that she died or not. So she followed the chakra source untill it came to a deep hole dug under the roots of a very larg tree. Karin leaned down and peered into the cave. It was small and dark, but she could see the figure of a sleeping person.

Karin decided it was best to wait for them to come out instead of her going in there.

oOo oOo oOo

Sasuke walked into the large room and called Pain to come to him.

"Somon it now," he said emotionlessly.

"Now?"

"Yes," Sasuke nodded. "I will get the kitsune."

"Hai," Pain turned to the other Akatsuki members and began making orders while Sasuke turned and headed towards Naruto's cell.

oOo oOo oOo

Naruto was asleep in his cell when he felt someone shaking him awake.

"Naruto! Naruto! Come on, dobe, wake up." Naruto woke up slowly but then he realized where he was and jumped up, almost knocking both Sasuke and himself onto the floor. Sasuke helped Naruto up and then went behind him to tie his hands.

"Just don't fight me, alright? I promise we will get out of here alive!" Naruto nodded again. What else could he do but trust that Sasuke would really help him? Naruto let Sasuke lead him through a series of hallways before they arrived at a huge room with a very tall ceiling. There was a large statue of some sort in the middle of the room and all the Akatsuki were there. They each stood on a finger of the statue. It's mouth was chained closed and it's face was frightning, but Naruto wasn't scared. He trusted Sasuke.

The Uchiha led him roughly to the center of the room and pushed him to the floor in front of the face. Naruto watched in horror as Sasuke took his place on the last finger and the mouth began to open. Blue arm like bands of chakra began reaching out and grabbing at Naruto. They slowly began eating at his Kiyuubi! He heard the screams of the demon fox and in turn, he also screamed! It hurt so much! He saw red chakra leaving his body and he wondered franticlly what Sasuke was doing!

Then it all stopped. Sasuke let go. He pulled away. With out his chakra, the statue wouldn't work. Once it got started it couldn't be deprived of chakra like that or it would crumble! Sasuke knew this. He leaped from his place on the statue's hand and grabbed Naruto. He carried the blonde out of the cave just in time to watch it crumble. Naruto had passed out from the pain of the procedure so Sasuke set him down on the ground and waited untill he woke up again.

oOo oOo oOo

Finally, someone came out. A younge man with a deformed face and left arm came slowly out of the cave. Karin watched him. He had short grey hair and wore glasses. But he had two different types of chakra. Who was this boy?

"Karin!" the boy said before turning to look at her. It wasn't a boy. It was a young man, possibly in his early twenties. Karin recognized him right away.

"Kabuto!?"

"Hello, traitor!" he spat.

"Traitor? Kabuto, Sasuke killed Orochimaru. That would make him my new leader."

"You are wrong! Orochimaru lives! He lives inside of me!!" Kabuto began to laugh very strangly and it sent chills up Karin's spine. She really didn't like this guy!

"Are you the one who killed Zakuro?"

"Yes, I am."

"Why?"

"Because she choose to follow Sasuke instead of me!"

"What?"

"Yes, and you did too. Now I will kill you." Kabuto lunged at her. She had no time to dodge the attack and was hit in the same way as Zakuro was. Before she died, Karin was able to say one thing.

"Freak" she whispered with her last breath. Kabuto smirked and tried to pretend it didn't hurt to be called that. He turned and walked away. It was now time to find the ultimate traider!

Uchiha Sasuke!

* * *

well, that was the chapter. next one's the big finish! ok so not that big but it will be the end unless i can't end it for some reason...so tell me what you think, please! review! and i hope you liked it! 


	14. Epilogue

thank you all for reading! this is the last chapter of this story! don't worry lol there will be a sequel for sure! lol but for the plot of the sequel i have to end this one here! sorry! so, thank you again for reading and reviewing!! see you in the sequel!!

* * *

Sasuke followed Naruto through the village of Konoha. He accepted all the stares and hateful comments from the people. He did, after all, leave them for their enemy. He was there and idol but now they saw him as a traitor. He knew this but it didn't change what he had to do!

"Sasuke," Naruto looked back at him as they aproached the Hokage tower. "you know you don't have to do this."

"Yes, Naruto. I do!" Sasuke said with as much authority and determination as that one time, so long ago, when Naruto and he had fought. Naruto sighed and gave him an understanding look. They continued through the village, around the hokage tower, and back to the main gate. It was like a parade. People shouted and screamed at them. Some shouts were praise that their beloved hokage was safe at home. Others were shouts of joy to see thier last Uchiha home again. But most were shouts of hatered for either the Uchiha traitor or the demon child.

Sadly, Naruto had become used to this kind of treatment. It was the same through out his whole life. But Naruto could tell that it hurt Sasuke deep. Even though he was taking it, even thought he showed nothing on his face but an expressionless mask, even though he walked in silence and claimed it was what he had to do, Naruto knew how it hurt him to be hated by those who used to hold him above every one else. Naruto knew that pain, all too well.

The two boys finished the rounds and returned to the small apartment in the Uchiha compound that used to belong to Sasuke. It had been cleaned and taken care of, thanks to Naruto.

"Sasuke," Naruto said with the authority of a true hokage. Sasuke felt sudden respect and stood straight up. He turned to face his old rival. "Sasuke," Naruto's voice softened and he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck like he used to. Sasuke couldn't help but smile and the sight.

"Naruto, I'll be.."

"Sasuke, thank you! You saved me. And even if everyone in this village hates you, I'm still your best friend. Believe it!"

"You're still using that stupid phrase, usuratonkachi?"

"Don't call me that! I'm your hokage!" The two of them laughed. It felt good to laugh. Especially after everything that had happened. After all the people they had lost. The ones they had loved and admired. Kakashi, Sakura, Lee, Sai, and many others. They were gone now! Gone forever! But they could still laugh, even if it was just for a moment.

"Sasuke, I'm leaving three ANBU with you to protect you."

"I can protect myself, Naruto."

"I know that, better than anyone probably, but it makes me feel better to know that you will have them with you. Think yourself lucky to get the ones I picked."

As Naruto walked out, Kiba, Shino, and Neji walked in. Sasuke growned.

"You were the best he could pick?!"

"Shut up, Uchiha!" Kiba barked, "We didn't have to do this you know!"

"Yea, yea. Whatever." Sasuke went about settling in. Kiba yelled at him about being ungrateful. Neji and Shino watched in silence. Naruto walked back to the Hokage tower to finish paper work. Villagers still through hurtful comments and other various things at him, but he ignore it. It was Tsunade's wish for him to be the next hokage. It had been his dream too but never like this! Naruto wished, at that moment, he could just die and give the people of Konoha what they really wanted! Little did he know, that in the crowd, some one else had that same wish.


End file.
